MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Interesting article on book pricing and why it might rise

GA Russell · 12-18-2010, 12:16 AM

Elfwreck, yes, I can see your point regarding a specific title.

Perhaps the two markets, legit and pirate, should be compared as a whole.

I suspect there are more pirates than there are personnel of the big publishers devoting themselves to back catalogue. I believe that we see books which are available at the pirate sites but not legitimately (ie, Perry Masons) because there are more pirates working at it.

Let's say the publisher offers a perfect back catalogue edition for $2.99. I believe that many customers will limit their selections to low-priced editions which they know are in perfect condition rather than consider other titles (the pirate books) which probably have typos.

I can see people struggling through a few poorly proofread pirate books, and deciding that they'll never bother with another pirate book again so long as there are legitimate books they want to read which are priced low.

12-18-2010, 12:16 AM	#290
GA Russell Stamps beat Riders Posts: 7,698 Karma: 31487351 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite	Elfwreck, yes, I can see your point regarding a specific title. Perhaps the two markets, legit and pirate, should be compared as a whole. I suspect there are more pirates than there are personnel of the big publishers devoting themselves to back catalogue. I believe that we see books which are available at the pirate sites but not legitimately (ie, Perry Masons) because there are more pirates working at it. Let's say the publisher offers a perfect back catalogue edition for $2.99. I believe that many customers will limit their selections to low-priced editions which they know are in perfect condition rather than consider other titles (the pirate books) which probably have typos. I can see people struggling through a few poorly proofread pirate books, and deciding that they'll never bother with another pirate book again so long as there are legitimate books they want to read which are priced low.